Internal combustion vehicles fell below 50 percent of global new car sales for the first time; BYD widened its quarterly delivery lead over Tesla to 275,000 units; and Europe affordable EVs are selling at seven times last year pace. The bottom line: the question is no longer whether EVs replace combustion but how fast legacy automakers can survive the transition — Ford 80 percent sales collapse and Volvo second guidance withdrawal this year suggest the answer, for some, is not fast enough.
Internal combustion vehicles made up less than half of all new car sales globally in September 2026 for the first time in automotive history, with battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles collectively taking the majority.
BYD reported 762,478 battery-electric deliveries in Q3, up 30.9 percent YoY. The 275,000-unit quarterly gap over Tesla is the largest single-quarter divergence on record, spilling into pricing in third-party markets.
Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in Q3 — a 2 percent YoY decline but above consensus estimates — maintaining quarterly delivery lead while vehicle margins continued their eight-quarter compression.
Ford electric vehicle sales fell approximately 80 percent YoY in Q3, pushing the company entire near-term EV recovery onto the Fathom compact pickup targeting $28,350 and Q1 2027 production.
Battery-electrics took 30 percent of European new car registrations in September, a record driven by compliance buying and a 50 percent expansion in models priced below 25,000 euros.
Transport and Environment projects that European sales of EVs priced at or below 25,000 euros will increase approximately sevenfold in 2026 compared to 2024, driven by affordable models from BYD, Renault, Dacia, and Volkswagen.
The Netherlands issued the first EU member-state formal approval for Tesla FSD on public roads. Tesla is pursuing national approvals in parallel across multiple countries under existing type-approval frameworks.
Jaguar unveiled the production-ready Type 01 — a 1,016-horsepower four-door GT with 430-mile range priced from $130,000 in the US. North America is the primary market with further models confirmed.
Hyundai opened UK orders for the IONIQ 3 at 18,495 pounds post-grant — the first mass-market EV from a major OEM to break the 20,000-pound threshold on a meaningful range figure — with US pricing at approximately $25,000.
Geely deployed 2,250-kilowatt chargers in active commercial use in China while the United States works out timelines for 750kW infrastructure next year. The gap is 3x at current US targets.
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